A Roman period settlement at Plaňany (Kolín district), location of U silnice. A probe into the form of settlement in the vicinity of the cemetery of Dobřichov-Třebická during the late 2nd to 4th centuries AD
Abstract
The article deals with the evaluation of Roman Period archaeological situations and finds investigated during a rescue excavation in 2016. The excavation was initiated due to the construction of underground utilities and roads leading to new family houses on the eastern edge of the village.
A total of 82 features were investigated, out of which 14 were dated to the Roman Period and 6 to the Early Middle Ages, on the basis of recovered finds. Thanks to analysis of the finds, it was possible to outline and define the chronological development of the settlement in question.
Its beginnings date back to the 2nd century AD (phase B2 of the Roman period) and it existed until the 3rd century (phase C1). The contents of one feature (no. 49) then correspond to the final Roman period (phase C3).
It is quite interesting that the excavated section of the settlement almost exclusively contained features interpretable as storage or exploitation pits but no features that are traditionally considered as residential (sunken floor huts). It is probable that the excavated part of the settlement was used for specific purposes, such as exploitation and storage, and subsequently as a rubbish dump.
Thanks to soil samples which were subsequently floated, a large quantity of material for archaeobotanical analysis was recovered (2611 plant macroremains). Thus almost a complete range of Roman period cereals was documented, which consists especially of archaic species characteristic of earlier agricultural prehistory (einkorn wheat, emmer wheat, spelt, barley) and one crop species spreading only at the close of prehistory (oat).
It is a mixture characteristic of the Roman period, during which the range of cereals in Central Europe underwent a gradual transformation. The spectrum of tree species, ascertained on the basis of analyzed charcoal samples, conforms to the potential reconstructed vegetation.
The study also includes analysis of imported Roman provincial pottery which is relatively abundant on the site, considering the general situation in Bohemia (16 fragments of at least 5 vessels).